What does close protection cost?
The most honest answer first: whoever names a price before knowing your situation is calculating his revenue, not your security. Here is how it is done properly.
No two mandates are alike.
An evening reception in Vienna's first district. A summer season with the family at the lake. A business journey to a country whose situation changes weekly. Three enquiries, three entirely different concepts, three different budgets. Which is why serious close protection follows one rule without exception: assessment first, then the concept, then the price.
What truly drives the price.
- Threat level: is there a concrete threat, or is this about precaution and discretion?
- Occasion and duration: one evening, one journey, one season or ongoing accompaniment
- Team size: a single protection officer or a coordinated team
- Qualification: ISO 17024-certified Close Protection Officers (CPO) work on a different level to semi-trained staff, and that shows in the value
- Logistics: vehicles, advance reconnaissance, routes, coordination abroad
- Confidentiality: the more sensitive the environment, the more careful the preparation
Three ways to work with us.
By occasion. One evening, clearly priced.
A ball at the Hofburg. The photographers see a gown and a smile. What nobody sees: the arrival through the side entrance, the colleague in the foyer keeping the staircase in view, and the car pulling up three minutes before your departure. You leave when you wish. Everything else was long settled.
By project. A beginning and an end.
A week of negotiations, a closing that draws attention. We check the rooms before you enter them, know the routes before your driver takes them, and stand in the hotel corridor without a single guest turning round. The day after the signing, we are gone. As if we had never been there.
The mandate. The first class of calm.
A summer at the lake, the house full of life. Your children know our people by first name, the neighbours take them for friends of the family. Your personal contact knows your routines, prepares every journey and answers before the second ring. Day and night, all year. Until security is no longer a topic, but a state.
In all three models one thing holds: before we begin, you receive a written concept with a transparent calculation. No hidden items, no surprises. Discretion begins with the invoice.
The most expensive security is the kind that fails.
The market has providers for every budget. But an untrained protection officer is no bargain at the decisive moment; he is a risk. Our officers pass an examination in 14 disciplines before an independent commission and train daily. That has its value. And it is the difference between someone standing next to you and someone protecting you. How to recognise a professional provider in detail: see our guide to choosing close protection.
It begins simply.
- 1. The conversation: free, confidential, without obligation. At your time, at a place of your choosing.
- 2. The assessment: we analyse your situation honestly. Risks are named, not embellished.
- 3. The concept: tailored, in writing, with a transparent calculation. You decide at your own pace.
What prospective clients ask us.
What does close protection cost in Austria?
Seriously, this can only be answered after a threat and situation assessment: costs depend on the threat level, the occasion, duration, team size and qualification. Professional close protection with ISO 17024-certified Close Protection Officers (CPO) is a tailored service, not an off-the-shelf product. A provider who quotes a price without knowing your situation is calculating his revenue, not your security.
Why does Protocol One Protection not publish a price list?
Because no two mandates are alike. An evening reception in Vienna, a summer season at a lake residence and a journey abroad demand entirely different concepts. Every mandate with us begins with an assessment. Only once we understand your situation do we speak about a concept and its cost. That is not an evasion; it is the core of serious security work.
What does the first conversation cost?
Nothing. The confidential first conversation is free of charge and without obligation, at your time and at a place of your choosing. You talk, we listen. You then receive an honest assessment, and only if you wish do we speak about a concept.
When does professional close protection become worthwhile?
Earlier than most people think: with public visibility through success or media, after concrete incidents or threats, around exposed occasions and travel, or when family and home deserve more than technology alone. The right moment is before the incident, not after it.
Every mandate begins with an assessment, not an offer.
Tell us about your situation. We listen.
Confidential. Personal. Without obligation.